The Clockwork Concept by Lis K

The Clockwork Concept - ZARA -

Roy Tebes 2171575

Evelien Boom 2172540

Lisanne Klaessen 2184781

Michelle Figge 2183819

DaniĂŤlle van Nispen 2186848

Table of contents 1. Introduction..........................................................................02 2. Model + explanations linked to theories...............................05 3. Company description...........................................................13 4. Applying model to company.................................................15 4.1 Organisation............................................................15 4.2 Target group............................................................22 4.3 Core values.............................................................23 4.4 Unique purposes.....................................................27 4.5 Similarities...............................................................27 4.6 Opinions..................................................................28 4.7 Create/adjust vision................................................32 4.8 Eternalize................................................................32 4.9 Brainstorming..........................................................33 4.10 Filtering.................................................................36 4.11 Definition...............................................................37 4.12 Implementation.....................................................39 5. Pain points & chances.........................................................42 6. Conclusion + recommendations..........................................44 7. Implementation....................................................................45 7.1 Roy..........................................................................47 7.1.1 Description concept carrier............................47 7.1.2 Visual representation.....................................49 7.1.3 Explanation of fit............................................51 7.1.4 3 Touchpoints.................................................52 7.2 Danielle...................................................................53 7.2.1 Description concept carrier............................53 7.2.2 Visual representation.....................................55 7.2.3 Explanation of fit ...........................................57 7.2.4 3 Touchpoints.................................................58 7.3 Michelle...................................................................59 7.3.1 Description concept carrier............................59 7.3.2 Visual representation ....................................61 7.3.3 Explanation of fit ...........................................63 7.3.4 3 Touchpoints ................................................63 7.4 Lisanne....................................................................65 7.4.1 Description concept carrier............................65 7.4.2 Visual representation ....................................67 7.4.3 Explanation of fit ...........................................69 7.4.4 3 Touchpoints ................................................69 7.5 Evelien....................................................................71 7.5.1 Description concept carrier............................71 7.5.2 Visual representation ....................................74 7.5.3 Explanation of fit ...........................................74. 7.5.4 3 Touchpoints.................................................75 8. References..........................................................................78

1. introduction This report has been composed by five CO-IEMES (Communication â&#x20AC;&#x201C; International Event, Music & Entertainment Studies) students: Lisanne Klaessen, Danielle van Nispen, Roy Tebes, Evelien Boom and Michelle Figge. It is commissioned by Fontys ACI in Tilburg. The assignment is to design a theoretical framework (concepting model) to analyse and strengthen an existing international concept in order to give recommendations for implementation. The ultimate purpose of this report is to give an advice to Zara based on our theoretical framework. Zara is a Spanish clothing and accessories retailer. The output is this creative report. This research was done in eight weeks (1 September 2014 till 3 November 2014).

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The clockwork concept is a comprehensive framework used to analyze, develop and implement concepts. It is a construction for the development of a timeless basis; when the clock is built it can go on foreverâ&#x20AC;?.

2. Model + explanations linked to theories The Clockwork Concept The clockwork concept is a comprehensive framework used to analyze, develop and implement concepts. It is a construction for the development of a timeless basis; when the clock is built it can go on forever. There are three phases consisting of four steps each. The phases are: Research, Foundation and Realisation.

Research (1-4) Research is the basis of a good concept. By doing research one can get insights in several aspects which will be of importance later in the clockwork process. The following steps will give plenty of handles with which to execute this phase successfully: 1. Organisation Internal analysis with general information about the company. Think about current information such as vision, values, communication means and possibly their problem or goal. 2. Target Group Analysis of your target group. Think about their needs, wants, values and possible problems. 3. Core Values Filter the values of the organisation and target group, analyse what the core values are and look at similarities. 4. Unique purposes A unique purpose describes the unique traits of an organization. With these the organization can separate itself from other organizations in the same industry. A purpose is your organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fundamental reason for existing beyond making money. They are broad and enduring. Purposes are not about specific products or services. To come up with a purpose you have to ask yourself: what is our reason for being? What would be lost if we would stop?

Foundation (5-8) In this phase, from the research a foundation will be built for the concept. All gained information will be used for this. 5. Similarities Look at the similarities in the research results. What similarities do you see? 6. Opinions Look at the similarities in the research results. What do you think about these similarities? 7. Create/adjust vision Create a vision based on all previous data. 8. Eternalize Your business, strategy and tactics, operations, culture and products must change over time. The only thing that shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t change is your vision. The foundation of a company must be solid and timeless. Make sure your company has an overarching thought which can be used for ever. Do not aim your vision on a product, you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need a great product idea to begin. Also, do not state goals in your vision. Mission statements are the place for these.

The Clockwork Concept

Realisation (9-12) In this phase creativity will come into play. All collected data can be applied and formed into a comprehensive clockwork concept. 9. Brainstorming To start this phase it’s important to first get things straight: Is your goal/problem/design clear? Do you know about it what you want to know? Do you have enough information about your goal? For who is the goal/problem you’re going to solve? You should be able to answer these questions with the basis you have placed in the Research and Foundation phases. Are you using this model to analyze an existing concept? If so, create an overview of all pains and gains and use this as basis for the rest of your work. If you’re using this model to create a new concept, follow the further steps in this phase. You probably also have many ideas in your mind right now. That’s why it’s important to start with a ‘braindump’. Write everything down you can possibly come up with and try to set a time limit to speed up the process. For example, 100 ideas in 5 minutes (20 ideas per person). Be creative. After the first braindump you continue by setting a start formulation. Formulate your goal in one sentence and make it as concrete as possible. Appoint in this sentence the owner of the problem and start the question with either ‘How’ or ‘Conceive…’ Formulate multiple sentences with different points of view and try to come up with as many answers as possible to these questions. With a ‘How-formulation’ you focus on the way you want to achieve your goal. With the ‘Conceive-formulation’ you focus on the end result.

Example start formulation: Problem: In the church of the village concerts are being organized fairly often. This attracts many visitors. But, because public transport in the municipality is bad, everyone comes by car. The village is not prepared for this. Three start formulations are created: 1. How can we prevent the village turning into a chaos by cars during the next concert? 2. How can we make sure that during the concert the village won’t be flooded with cars? 3. Conceive ways to make the visitors of the concerts keep their cars at home. The difference is obvious. The first formulation is completely focussed on het problem while the last one creates room for solutions. A good start formulation is concrete about the problem and it’s owner and also challenging, inspiring and positive. After having chosen the start formulation the diverging phase begins. In this phase it’s important to create as many ideas as possible. Quantity briefly goes before quality. Techniques you can use for example are: • Superhero: Choose a hero, write down his/her traits and imagine how this hero would solve the problem. Make the ideas viable. • The all-knowing paper: Take 10 post-it’s per person and look for solutions in the paper. • The opposite sex: Imagine how the other sex would solve the problem. • Keywords: Choose an important word from the start formulation and add a random word to it, like car + toothpaste. Write down traits of both words, try to compare these and write down associations. After applying each technique it’s important to cluster the ideas with your group and think about them.

10. Filtering In this phase all ideas from the brainstorm phases come together. If the model has been used to analyze an existing concept, the most relevant pains and gains will come forward to base further steps on. If the model has been used to create a new concept, filter the best ideas from your brainstorm, link useful ideas together and make these into the base for your concept. A technique you can use for this is the ‘COCD-box’. With the COCD box, you cluster all ideas into three groups with different colours; blue red and yellow. Blue ideas are common, viable ideas. Red ideas are stimulating and innovative and also still viable. Yellow ideas are sublime but often not viable. After having clustered these ideas, from each color the best 10 ideas are picked. These ideas will end up in the empty ‘white’ space. In this space ideas are being clustered to the definitive, best idea. During the last phase of the COCD-box it’s important to ask yourself a couple of questions: Does this idea match with the vision? Does this idea represent the essence of the vision? Does it fit with the organization? Does it fit with the target audience? Is it easy to explain and to understand? Is it recognizable? Does it inspire you to think and move? Can it be applied in multiple ways? Does it have longevity? It is different/innovative? 11. Definition Form or adjust a concept out of the filtered ideas. Describe the core of the concept in a concrete and clear way. Look for a comprehensive name and a one liner for the concept. 12. Implementation A concept without concept pillars is no concept. During the implementation step these pillars are being developed. The choices for pillars are being supported by all previous steps. When the implementation is complete, people will get in touch with the concept. There are multiple kinds of concept pillars. Sometimes these overlap: - Product/service: For example events or the product. - Organisation: The concept determines the company culture and behaviour. - Communication: For example social media, website, print, commercials. - Physical Environment: What atmosphere, colour and appearance are being used? - Network: Fellow producers of the experience, like suppliers and consumers.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The idea is to share responsible passion for fashion across a broad spectrum of people, cultures and agesâ&#x20AC;?. - Zara

3. Description company Zara is one of the largest international fashion companies. It belongs to Inditex, one of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest distribution groups. The customer is at the heart of the unique business model, which includes design, production, distribution and sales through the extensive retail network. (zara.com, 201o)

There is more information about Zara in the research part of the Clockwork Concept.

4. Applying model to company 4.1 Organisation Zara is one of the largest international fashion companies. It belongs to Inditex, one of the world’s largest distribution groups. The customer is at the heart of the unique business model, which includes design, production, distribution and sales through the extensive retail network. (Zara, 2010) Mission To get the shortest time to market. (new designs of clothing) Strategy Zara is always striving to meet the needs of its customers and at the same time helping to inform them thus influencing their ideas, trends and tastes. The idea is to share responsible passion for fashion across a broad spectrum of people, cultures and ages. Zara is currently growing in the international market and trying to hold on to this growth in the coming years. They want to offer the latest trends in the international market rapidly. Zara chooses manufacturers who can deliver fast at low prices. They spend a lot of time on trendwatching to analyze the consumers developing needs and what they seek. Zara is also very customer-oriented. They keep track of what is purchased and sought by the customer regularly to anticipate quickly what is selling poorly or if there are any potential opportunities. Zara has limited amounts of products in their stores to create a sense of scarcity. Each month the assortment changes 70-90%. Zara makes no use of advertising; they prefer to choose the best locations for their stores. Current concept: Zara’s overall current concept includes quality, sustainability and affordable fashion. Zara makes use of several communication means. Although the main goal of Zara is selling clothes, it’s clear Zara wants to do more. Zara cares about sustainability, inspires their target group and wants their fashion to be available for everyone. Inspiration: Zara’s inspiration are high fashion brands such as Prada, Chanel, Louis Vuitton and all the other brands that exhibit their new collections so Zara can determine what the latest trends are and respond quickly on these. (Creutzberg, 2013)

Zara in the news: Recently, Zara was negatively in the news. A boys t-shirt that evoked associations to the second world war caused a lot of commotion. The t-shirt was intended as a ‘cowboy sheriff’ t-shirt but was conceived as a uniform from the concentration camps for Jews in WW2. This could have caused damage to Zara’s reputation. (Arkell, 2014) In 2013, Zara made the news for slavery and child labor in the clothing factory in Argentina. Zara was also accused of having certain toxins in their clothing. (Sas, M. 2013) Another important news item from last year is the catastrophic collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh. The accident took the lives of over 1000 people. It was a clothing factory, that produces clothing for Zara and other fast-fashion companies. (Siegle, L. 2014) After this accident, Zara took some actions regarding to this issue. For example, Zara has promised to raise the wages of their employees in Cambodia. This happened after September 17, when thousands of workers filled the streets of Phnom Penh to protest for an increase in the monthly minimum wage from $100 to $177. (Bravo, K. 2014) Zara also said they will sign an accord to improve safety conditions in factories in Bangladesh. (BBC, 2013) Although Zara seems to be working on this important issue, there still isn’t very much actual proof on their sustainability. While Zara really wants to be sustainable (in their stores for example), these huge news items won’t do anything good for this goal. It’s very likely people have mixed feelings about Zara’s sustainability. Rank a Brand confirmed this doubt. They have been testing Zara on their sustainability by a number of criteria. Zara got the C-label. It means Zara is making reasonable progress, but it could be better. Zara is clear about the improvements and issues around working with suppliers in low-wage countries like Bangladesh and Cambodia, and has been connected with the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI). However, there is still much room for improvements. Also, Zara can do a lot better on climate and environmental. (Rank a Brand, 2014)

Vision

“Design must be available and affordable for everybody, with a rapid response to the demands of the market”.

External organisation Product and/or service Zara offers cutting edge fashion at affordable prices by following the most up-to-date fashion trends and identifying consumers’ demand, and quickly getting the latest designs into stores. Inditex’s products meet the most stringent health and safety standards and there stores are designed, created and managed under eco-efficient criteria. Zara also uses ecological fabrics and organic cotton in their products. Inditex places over 900 million garments on the market each year. Quality is non-negotiable for them, their products are made to comply with their demanding in-house health and safety standards. These standards, designed to fulfil the requirements of the most exacting product health and safety regulations worldwide. Inditex uses their Sustainable Business Model. “The key lies with adapting to what our customers want as quickly as possible, offering them sustainable fashion.” To manage their sustainability they developed their Right to wear philosophy. This philosophy provides sustainability in the basis of all their decisions. Right to wear is present in all their processes, inspired by their commitment to selling ethical, safe and community- and environmentally-friendly products. Right to Wear is an ambition and an everyday reality.

- Clear and Safe to Wear: These standards guarantee that all the products Zara sells comply with the most stringent health and safety standards. - Teams to Wear: This sums up a corporate culture and philosophy that fosters business ethics, respect for others and their diversity, honesty in everything Zara does, transparency and professionalism. - Tested to Wear: A production process audit and monitoring methodology designed to ensure that all their products are made upholding ethical criteria and human, labour and environmental rights. - Social to Wear: Social investing initiatives with which Zara strengthens their ties with the communities in which they do business. - Green to Wear: The strategy designed to ensure Zara makes and sell environmentallyfriendly products. (Inditex, 2014)

Communication Proposition: Offering luxury and value for a reasonable price. Means of communication: Website Webshop App Facebook Instagram Pinterest Twitter Newsletter Zara fills her means of communications with a lot of different content. For example, the website is not just an online store, but has also a lookbook, pictures and sometimes video’s for inspiration. The video ‘A Selby Film’ with Lucy Chadwick (http://vimeo.com/32097107) from a few years ago is a clear example: it tells an inspirational story about Lucy Chadwhick, who is wearing clothes of Zara. It’s not just selling, but an inspiration which may lead to sales. On Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, Zara mostly shares pictures from their current collection from their website. Followers often respond or like these posts, but it’s not very interactive. Zara’s newsletter is also mostly filled with updates from their website like “New this week”. Zara’s app is basically a smartphone version of the website, where the viewer can look at all the (new) looks and shop online. Zara uses Pinterest mainly for lookbooks. They share their photos which are meant for inspiration. Organisation The Inditex organizational culture is characterized by teamwork, open communication and a high level of demand. They want to make clear that national borders should not prevent the ability to share fashion culture. These principles are the basis of a personal connection focused on customer satisfaction. Inditex has a team of over 128,000 critical-thinking professionals. Working on the basis that there is always room for improvement is what enables them to continue to grow. Zara is demanding and non-conformist. They see problems as opportunities and their most important mission is to search for solutions to these issues. Physical environment Logo:

Typography: Helvética, Coated Black Style: Classic, Sophisticate Colors: Black, White Stores: Zara has over 2000 stores strategically located in leading cities across 88 countries. (Inditex, 2014). Zara’s goal is to have one hundred percent of all existing Zara stores ecoefficient by the year 2020. Instead of opening new shops, Zara is focusing on refurbishing their existing stores and introducing a new, durable interior. (Hendriksz, V. 2013)

Network Zara belongs to Inditex, one of the world’s largest fashion retailers with eight brands and over 6,460 stores throughout the world. Inditex is inspired by a responsible passion for fashion and, above all, by their customers. Inditex’s supply chain is uniquely concentrated. Over 50% of production takes place in close proximity to the Group’s’ head offices and logistics platforms in Spain. This hallmark flexibility extends to Inditex’s suppliers, which have grown hand in hand with the company. (Inditex, 2014)

4.2 Target Group General Zara’s target market is young, price-conscious, and highly sensitive to the latest fashion trends. The customer is usually aged 18 - 38 (young adults) with a mid-range income job. The TRF collection focuses on ages 15 - 25. The target audience is international and usually lives in or around big cities. They desire cutting edge fashion at affordable prices (Harbott.com, 2013). Because of their mid-range income they have to be deliberate about their expenses. Segmentation Zara has clearly segmented itself into many regions. For instance, Inditex has conglomerated various clothing line designers such as Bershka and Massimo Dutti in addition to Zara. This clearly demonstrates their demographic intentions to segment consumers with various tastes towards clothing as well as pricing preferences. Inditex, and Zara in particular, tend to create the full value of certain products and services differently from one another. Behaviour Young adults have an appetite for brand engagement. Over a third of young adults watch online advertising or marketing clips. A research by Young Adults Revealed developed a panel used by over 12.000 young adults. Of this group, 47% had clicked on an ad in the past month. Young adults’ responses in certain areas of this survey did indicate that they are cautious, pragmatic and occasionally sceptical when it comes to products and marketing though. When it comes to finding out about brands online, 46% of the young adults turn to search engines. Another 26% make use of third-party sites for brand information. Young adults are happy to incorporate brands into their own identities. (Microsoft Advertising and Synovate, 2014) Next to internet, they also have interest in music, films and traveling, especially visiting big cities in Europe. This means they get confronted a lot with present day’s fashion standards. The target audience has feeling for mixing and re-using garments to turn it into their own style. They are also independent and find family and career important. The target group is trendy, self-conscious with an average income. They are conscious about what they spend and this fits well with Zara. Core values target group • Adventurous: The target group likes to travel and to wear cutting-edge fashion. • Self-conscious: The target group is conscious about their income and what money they can spend, and also about their image. • Hedonism: The target group enjoys life, spending time with their family and finds their career important. They also like music, films and traveling. • Unique: The target group is conscious about their image and likes to be unique. They combine or re-use apparel into their own personal style. • Deliberate: Because of in general having a mid-range income, the target group has to be deliberate about their expenses.

4.3 Core Values Zara

Trendy

Quality

Sustainable

Classic

Authentic

Affordable

Core Values Target group

Adventurous

Self-conscious 25

Deliberate

Hedonism

Unique 26

4.4. Unique purposes Zara strives for an image where they show that they stand for trendy clothing and quality at an affordable price. They make clothes that fit into contemporary fashion images. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve grown strong globally and have a strong international influence on fashion. Therefore they have several price ranges in their collections which makes them accessible to a wide audience.

4.5. Similarities Matches between the core values, vision and unique purpose of Zara: Quality + Hedonism Authentic + Unique + Self-conscious Sustainable + Self-conscious + Deliberate Affordable + Trendy + Deliberate + Self-conscious

4.6. Opinions We think that value match number 4 is really similar to the vision of Zara. It is a good thing that the values of Zara and their target group can be found in the vision. Zara is really matching their target group. However, we think that the authentic and unique values from match number 2 are missing out in the vision.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Authentic design must be available and affordable for everybody, with a rapid response to the demands of marketâ&#x20AC;? - Zara

4.7. Create/adjust vision Adjusted vision Authentic design must be available and affordable for everybody, with a rapid response to the demands of market We decided to adjust their value ‘authentic’ to their vision to make the vision more personal. The value ‘authentic’ is important for Zara and their target group. Sustainability is also a very important value for Zara. It is not (yet) something what they are, but something they want to be. Zara is actively working on becoming more sustainable by turning their current stores into eco-stores, by enforcing sustainable management, by raising wages in the production sector and by enforcing environmental- and animal welfare policies. Despite positive messages about Zara’s sustainability policies, there are also negative messages in the news claiming Zara isn’t sustainable at all. Zara should be more transparent about how they apply their sustainability policies to avoid people and media spreading rumor.

4.8. Eternalize The vision of Zara is already eternalized. Because they used the word ‘design’, they did not aim their vision on a product. There is also no goal in the vision that can be finished on a short notice. Furthermore, this vision allows for many possibilities within their industry.

4.9. Brainstorming We are using this model to analyze an existing concept. That is why we created an overview of all pains and gains in this phase of our model. The pains and gains will be the basis for the next phases. Pains: Sustainability: Zara wants to be sustainable and seems to be working on this important issue. However, there still isn’t very much actual proof on their sustainability. Also, there are many positive, negative and unclear facts about Zara which make it very likely that people will have mixed feelings about Zara’s sustainability. Negative facts about Zara: • Thousands of employees in Cambodia protested for an increase in the monthly minimum wage from $100 to $177 (2014) • Slavery and child labor in a Zara clothing factory in Argentina. (2013) • Zara was accused of having certain toxins in their clothing. (2013) • Catastrophic collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh where clothing of Zara and other fastfashion companies were produced. (2013) • Inditex publishes its carbon footprint. However, the 2012 footprint (314599 tonnes COeq) has decreased by only around 6% compared to 2009 (335,226 tonnes COeq). • Inditex provides a clear target of cutting (2005 as base year) emissions by 20% in 2020. This is however less than 20% within the next 5 years. Positive facts about Zara: • Zara raised the wages of their employees in cambodia. (2014) • Zara signs an accord to improve safety conditions in factories in bangladesh (2013) • Inditex is a full member of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) since 2005. This means that Labour Unions and/ or business-independent NGO’s have a formal and codecisive voice within the initiative and are co-responsible for the integrity and credibility of the initiative. • Inditex has various policy measures to reduce carbon emissions, such as installing sources of renewable energy and building eco-efficient stores. • Zara has signed the Greenpeace Zero-Discharge Commitment. Companies that signed this document promise to ‘eliminate all hazardous chemicals from the whole lifecycle and all production procedures that are associated with the making and using of company’s products, by 2020’.

• Inditex has a supplier Code of Conduct (CoC) for external manufacturers and suppliers, which includes the following standards: No forced or slave labor, no child labor, no discrimination of any kind and a safe and hygienic workplace • Inditex’s CoC includes the following rights: a formally registered employment relationship, a maximum working week of 48 hours with voluntary overtime and their wages should always be enough to meet at least the basic needs of living. The right for workers to form and join trade unions and bargains collective is also included. With reference to parallel means for the situation of law restrictions. • Inditex provides a clear report of their labour conditions policy and implementation levels. Unclear facts about Zara: • Zara is implementing an eco-friendly management model in its shops in order to reduce energy consumption by 20%. However, no concrete information about an energy efficiency lower than 200 kg CO2e per square meter or the use of renewable energy to at least 25% is reported. • Inditex does not communicate a policy to reduce the carbon emissions in the supply chain that is beyond own operations on its website. • In 2012, Zara introduced over 4.2 million articles made with 100% organic cotton onto the market. However, the brand is unclear about the percentage of organic cotton related to total production. Sustainability information should be easily accessible for consumers to make responsible choices. • Zara does not openly communicate a policy to limit chromium and other harmful substances pollution caused by leather tanning processes. • Zara does not report about having a plan to phase out PVC in their products. Sustainability information should be easily accessible to enable consumers to make more responsible choices. • Neither Zara nor Inditex communicates a list of factories on its website. • Inditex has not publicly issued that sandblasting is banned from the brand’s supply chains in its current reporting. • In 2012, internal, SA8000 accredited auditors have conducted 3,513 audits for Inditex. Thereby, 37% of all achieved supplier achieved Inditex´s high classification: low risk. However, nothing is reported whether these audits have been verified or certified by an independent third party.

Rank a Brand tested Zara with all these facts on their sustainability and ranked them with a C-label. This means that Zara is making reasonable progress, but it could be better. After considering all this, we can conclude that there is still much room for improvements. Also, Zara can do a lot better on climate and environmental. (Rank a Brand, 2014) Next to the sustainability pains, Zara also has some other pains: • Zara mostly shares a lot of different content, followers often respond or like these posts, but it’s not very interactive. • Zara (accidentally) made a boys t-shirt with associations to the second world war. It supposed to be a cowboy sherrif shirt but it looked a lot like a uniform from the concentration camp for Jews in WW2 Gains: Out of all these pains, the following gains could be concluded for Zara. • Zara has to work on the negative facts around their sustainability policy • Zara has to be clear and transparent about every aspect in their sustainability policy • Zara should make all their sustainability information easily accessible for consumers, so they can make responsible choices. • Zara has to make customers more aware of their products and the process behind them. • Zara should give their customers the option to participate in their sustainability policy • Zara has to create more interaction with their customers with their means of communication. • Zara should work on their climate- and environmental policies.

4.10. Filtering Because we use this model as an analyzing model we have determined which pains and gains are most relevant to base further steps on. The pains and gains around Zara’s sustainability policy are elaborate and useful to base our further steps on.

4.11. Definition Zara’s Current concept definition Zara’s overall current concept includes quality, sustainability and affordable fashion. Zara makes use of several communication means. Although the main goal of Zara is selling clothes, it’s clear Zara wants to do more. Zara cares about sustainability, inspires their target group and wants their fashion to be available for everyone. Zara’s new adjusted concept definition Zara stands for quality, sustainability and affordable fashion. Although the main goal of Zara is selling clothes, it’s clear Zara wants to do more. Zara cares about sustainability, inspires their target group and wants their fashion to be available for everyone. Zara uses several means of communication to make their stakeholders aware and let them participate with their goals.

4.12. Implementation In chapter 7, the following concept pillars have been worked out: Roy: Zara Vids (Communication/Product) - people can design their own clothing out of a set number of options through the Zara website. The production process of this personal design will be recorded into a short video which will be sent to the customer along with the piece of clothing. This video will give the customer an insight into the factories and the employees, as well as an explanation about the eco-friendly materials and production. Danielle: The Story Behind Zara (Communication: Blog) - The Story Behind Zara shows how employees on all departments work, including designers, factory employees and distributors. It is Zara’s online diary, filled with stories, videos and photo series. Michelle: Zara’s Journey creates opportunities for the customers and Zara itself. It’s a concept where Zara shows the journey of the product. The eco-friendly materials, production, factories, employees, and stores of Zara will be discussed during this journey. This way Zara can show what they already do with sustainability towards the customers and other interested parties. The customers will, at the same time, become more conscious and aware about the products they buy. The concept consists of three important aspects: A mirror with facts about Zara products, the journey of the product on the webshop and a video with reactions about the concept Zara’s Journey. Lisanne: Zara TRUE (Communication/Physical Environment: In-store communication, web shop) - All the products of Zara will receive new hang tags. The tags will contain the usual information, a QR-code and a color system that will reveal Zara’s ‘true’ colors. The color system is based on the progress Zara makes in their sustainability policy. That is why the colors of the tags will change from time to time. Next to the color system, there is also a QR-code on the tags in the stores. By scanning the QR-code, the customer gets lead to the product page on the web shop. On this page the customer will receive more information in a sincere, fun and exploring way. The information is about the product, production, facts and the people behind the process. Evelien: Zarapp (Communication: App) - This app is a game that can be downloaded for free in the app store. In this game you can design and produce your own clothes. During this process you have to make choices between several materials and several production processes. All these choices have economical and environmental effects.

5. Pain points & chances All the pain points and chances of Zara can be found in chapter four. The elaboration of our concepting model, the Clockwork Concept shows twelf clockwork steps. Clockwork step nine, brainstorming, shows the pains and gains of Zara based on our research on Zara.

6. Conclusion + recommendations Sustainability: We have been focussing on this part of Zara during the framework. While working on the analysis of Zara, we saw that sustainability is an unstable value of Zara. Zara wants to be sustainable and seems to be working on this. However, there still isn’t very much actual and visual proof of their sustainability. Also, there are many positive, negative and unclear facts (Chapter 4.9), which make it very likely that people will have mixed feelings about Zara’s sustainability. At this moment people won’t feel very convinced about Zara’s sustainability, because of the news of the collapsed factory in Bangladesh. This news item had a big impact on the fast-fashion industry, including Zara. After this accident there have been some news items about Zara making progress in for example the work environment, but people will remember the big, negative news easier than the small positive items. We recommend that Zara should be clearer and more transparent about their processes and their vision of sustainability. What does Zara mean with sustainability? Just eco-friendly stores, or also a healthy work environment at the factories where the clothes are made? The fact that Zara gets their new designs at an amazingly fast rate into the stores, combined with an untransparent process, gives soil for the creation of negative rumour by the media and other parties. Right now it’s difficult to see sustainability as a core value or as a part of their vision. It’s important Zara sees sustainability as a part of their mission: it’s something Zara wants to be and wants to stay working on. It won’t be a shame at all to publicly acknowledge that Zara knows it’s a long way to be sustainable on all levels, but that they want to make this happen and to work hard for it.

7. Implementation

7.1 Roy 7.1.1 Description concept carrier The analysis has shown that Zara lacks interactivity and also that they are aiming to become more sustainable. The concept â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Zara Vidsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, which stands for videos, will address these two issues the following way: people can design their own clothing out of a set number of options through the Zara website. The clothing designed this way will guaranteed be sustainable and crafted in a proper factory. The production process of this personal design will be recorded into a short video which will be sent to the customer on a USB-stick along with the piece of clothing. This video will give the customer an insight into the factories and the employees, as well as an explanation about the eco-friendly materials and production. While waiting on the order to arrive, the customer receives a mail thanking them for their order along with general information about Zaraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sustainability policies.

7.1.2 Visual representation

7.1.3 Explanation of fit Zara Vids fits well with the target group; the analysis has shown that the target group likes to create their own style. By allowing people to design their own clothing this value is met. The improved vision of Zara is the following: Authentic design must be available and affordable for everybody, with a rapid response to the demands of market. Personal design of clothing is always authentic. Also, the modern consumer demands interactivity and transparency. Zara Vids answers these demands by allowing personal design followed by a video of the production process of that specific piece of clothing, granting clear insight into the factories.

7.1.4 Touchpoints Website: The customer will design a piece of clothing through the Zara website. Mail: While waiting on the order, the customer receives a mail from Zara thanking them for their order along with general information about Zaraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sustainability policies. Video: When the clothing arrives, the customer also gets a video of the production process.

7.2 Daniëlle 7.2.1 Description concept carrier After applying The Clockwork Concept on Zara, our conclusion is that Zara’s sustainability is doubtful. We recommend that Zara should be clearer and more transparent about their processes and their vision of sustainability. It’s important Zara makes their sustainability information like the process of producing clothes easily accessible for consumers. Besides that, it’s a good opportunity for Zara if they give their customers the option to participate in their sustainability policy, and create more interaction with their customers. A new concept will give customers of Zara a clearer image of Zara’s sustainability, in an interactive way: The Story Behind Zara. We read a lot of things about Zara via news websites or blogs. This time, the news is coming from Zara itself. The Story Behind Zara is a blog from Zara. The blog gives customers of Zara and other interested people the opportunity to learn more about what is happening behind the scenes of Zara. Sustainability is an important angle in this blog. The Story Behind Zara shows how employees on all departments work, including designers, factory employees, distributors and store employees. It’s like Zara’s online diary, filled with stories, videos and photo series. A few examples:  A photo series that tells the process of creating a sustainable design.  A short film about the conditions in one of Zara’s factories, including an interview with one of the employees.  A story from a distributor, who will tell something about the way Zara get’s their clothing from the factories to the stores around the world. All posts on the blog are short. Think about a film or video from five minutes at most, photo series with five to ten photos and stories from around four hundred words or shorter. It’s important visitors of the blog can easily see if they want to read or watch a certain post or not, and that they won’t get bored while reading or watching something. The posts are short, but very informative and fun. It’s interesting for everyone who wants to learn more about sustainability and other stories behind Zara. It’s always possible some things stay a little unclear for some visitors of the blog, or maybe they just want to ask or say something for Zara. And when visitors have questions about subjects that have not been on the blog yet, they can suggest to Zara to create a post about that subject in the future. Because the blog is interactive, all of that is possible. Visitors can comment on the post and can expect a message back from Zara. It’s also possible to send a more private message.

The Story Behind Zara will be mentioned on Zara’s website and social media via a separate link, but that’s it. People can decide if they want to see the story behind Zara. It’s available for everybody, but it won’t take over existing communication means. The blog will also be on the first page on Google when people search for ‘Zara’. Not a lot of promotion means the blog probably won’t have a lot of visitors in the beginning, but that’s not the main purpose of The Story Behind Zara. The Story Behind Zara makes Zara a more versatile company. It’s a mix of design, sales, inspiration and stories.

7.2.2 Visual representation The blog is made in the same style as Zara’s website and other communication means. It’s minimalistic and clean, there’s a lot of black and white while the colours are mostly in the photos and videos. But at the same time, the layout is different. This way, it’s clear this blog is something else than Zara’s regular website. Because it’s a very structured blog, viewers can easily see what they can read or watch. They don’t have to search for content; it’s right in front of them. The little thumbnails show if the post is a story, video or photos. The front page is filled with nine posts. Visitors can click on the previous pages to see previous posts. It’s also possible to search on a certain subject or to look trough the archive.

7.2.3 Explanation of fit Zara’s vision: Authentic design must be available and affordable for everybody, with a rapid response to the demands of the market. The Story Behind Zara is available for everybody, just like Zara says in the vision that their authentic design must be available for everybody. The second part of Zara’s vision says that the design is going to the market with a rapid response. The Story Behind Zara actually explains the vision. For example: How is the authentic design getting to the market so quickly? With The Story Behind Zara, people will actually understand what Zara means with their vision. People will learn what is going on behind the scenes of Zara. The target group of Zara, young adults, have an appetite for brand engagement. The Story Behind Zara will be a great addition to this. And besides Internet, the target group has also interest in music, films and travelling. The Story Behind Zara is bringing these interests together, with a mix of different types of content, based on Zara. The Story Behind Zara fits with the target group’s core values self-consciousness, hedonism and uniqueness. Because of Zara’s blog, the target group will learn more about Zara. They will find out if Zara’s stories fit with their personality.

7.2.4 Touchpoints Customers of Zara and other interested people will get in touch with The Story Behind Zara at these moments: 1. Zara will create a link to The Story Behind Zara on their website and social media (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram). Also, The Story Behind Zara will be mentioned in Zara’s newsletter sometimes. This way, it’s easy for customers and followers to find The Story Behind Zara. When people visit Zara’s website or social media, or read the newsletter, they can choose to click on the link of blog or not. It’s always there, but it’s up to them. 2. It looks like Zara is working on their sustainability. When people read or hear something about Zara, positive or negative news, it’s possible they start to Google about this. They will find The Story Behind Zara soon. 3. When customers get in touch with employees of Zara, for example in one of the Zara stores. The customer might want to know more about the sustainability of Zara. The employee can refer to The Story Behind Zara. The Story Behind Zara gives information about things that happen behind the scenes of Zara. It will be easy to find on the Internet. It’s an important new communication mean of Zara, but it is something extra. When people want to know anything about Zara’s sustainability, they can get answers from The Story Behind Zara.

7.3 Michelle 7.3.1 Description concept carrier The most important outcome of our analysis was that the Zara needs to be more transparent about their sustainability. Applying The Clockwork Theory on Zara made clear that customers are doubtful about how sustainable Zara really is. We recommend that Zara should be clearer and more transparent about their processes and their vision of sustainability. Zara’s Journey creates opportunities for the customers and Zara itself. It’s a concept where Zara shows the journey of the product. The eco-friendly materials, production, factories, employees, and stores of Zara will be discussed during this journey. This way Zara can show what they already do with sustainability towards the customers and other interested parties. The customers will, at the same time, become more conscious and aware about the products they buy. Zara’s Journey While the customers are in the fitting room, they will learn more about the specific products they have chosen. By scanning the price tags, facts about the product will appear on the mirror. These facts are about the eco-friendly materials, the factory employees behind the product and how much money they receive for making the product. When the store employees scan the product at the cash register, they see the facts as well on their screen. As a result, customers and employees will be more aware about sustainability and the products they buy or sell. For interested people it’s possible to scan the QR-code next to the mirror, which is linked with the website of Zara. There’s a timeline of Zara’s product on the website, created with pictures and short videos, to give more information about the journey of the product. The journey consists of the moment when the customer presses on the buy button at the Webshop, till the moment when you receive the product at home, and everything in between. Afterwards, there’s a short video, which will show the effect of Zara’s Journey on customers. The video consists of interviews with reactions from the involved customers. This will be shown on the television screens in the Zara’s stores and shared at Facebook. Physical environment and communication are the used concept carriers.

7.3.2 Visual representation

7.3.3 Explanation of fit Zara´s vision is: Design must be available and affordable for everybody, with a rapid response to the demands of the market. Zara’s Journey is available for everyone and makes it possible to be more aware about the products of Zara. Other important values are Uniqueness, Deliberate and self-conscious. The customers are more deliberated and self-conscious due to the new knowledge about the products and the journey of the products, which are given in a unique way. Not only customers, but also the employees of Zara stores learn more about the products and how sustainable Zara is. The purpose of Zara’s Journey is to make Zara more transparent, looking to sustainability, by communicating the improvements they already made, such as eco-friendly materials.

7.3.4 Touchpoints The customers and other interested parties get in touch with Zara’s journey at several points: Mirror: The scanner in the fitting room is the first moment when most of the customers get in touch with Zara’s Journey. They have to be curious enough to scan the product and see the specific facts about the chosen product. Cash register: The store employees see the facts about the products on their screen, which will make them more conscious about the products they sell. Website: There are two possibilities to go to the website. First the QR-code next to the mirror, which is linked with the website. When customers are interested about the journey they will go to the website, where there is more information and a timeline of Zara’s products, created of pictures and short videos. Another possibility is that customers will go to the website first, before they see the mirrors and scanners. Video: Afterwards, a short video will be shown on the television screens of Zara’s stores, which consists of reactions from customers on Zara’s Journey. It isn’t necessary for customers to see the scanner or website first. When they missed the Mirror and the website, the video also brings the message to the customer.

7.4 Lisanne 7.4.1 Description concept carrier In our recommendation towards Zara we advise them to be more clear and transparent about their processes and their vison of sustainability. Furthermore, we concluded that Zara has problems with the credibility of their sustainability policy and that they have to create more involvement with their customers. ‘TRUE’ is the concept that will help Zara turn our advice in to actions. TRUE is informative TRUE is easy accessible TRUE is explorative TRUE is unique TRUE is conscious AND most of all, TRUE is sustainable How TRUE works: All the products of Zara will receive new hang tags. The tags will contain the usual information, a QR-code and a color system that will reveal Zara’s ‘true’ colors. In the stores, the new tags are attached to the products. In the web shop, the color system will be added to the preview photo and the product information. The color system is based on the progress Zara makes in their sustainability policy. That is why the colors of the tags will change from time to time. Next to the color system, there is also a QR-code on the tags in the stores. With the sentence: ‘Like to know more about what you’re wearing?’ the customers get invited to scan the code. By scanning the QR-code, the customer is guided to the product page on the web shop. On this page the customer will receive more information in a sincere, fun and exploring way. The information is about the product, production, facts and the people behind the process. For example, short videos of the production process and personal stories and opinions of different people behind Zara. It will show infographics with facts from the present, 5 years ago, 5 years in the future and Zara her ultimate sustainable goal. As well as infographics with facts how to maintain the quality of your product or how to re-use your older Zara products.

To scan this QR-code, there will be large screens and scanners in every Zara store. If the customer scans a label, it will lead to the product page on Zara’s web shop. The page will contain a couple of buttons with all the different information options. The customers can choose which information they want about the product that they are holding. The QRcode can also be scanned with a smartphone and on the web shop, all the information will be presented when a customer clicks on a product. In the meantime, when no tags are being scanned, the screen will show random TRUE information. To make TRUE work successfully, Zara has to make their sustainable policy transparent and easy accessible on their website. It is understandable that Zara still has a long way to go to be as sustainable as they ultimately want. However, that is why they have to be honest about the phase they are in at the moment. And tell about the goals they want to reach. They can indicate different phases and work with percentages to show their progress. In that way, the color system on the tags can be based on these percentages and the customers can easily see the progress Zara is making. Furthermore, it is important that zara really is working about their sustainability. If you don’t walk the talk, then don’t talk the talk.

7.4.2 Visual representation

ZARA TRUE

ZARA TRUE Like to know more about what you’re wearing?

Zara Two-tone top REF. 5580/248 Black / Ecru

ZARA TRUE

Size

€ 29.99

7.4.3 Explanation of fit TRUE fits with the vision of Zara because the benefits of TRUE are available for everybody. The vision of Zara also explains they want to live up to the demands of the market. These demands do not only include the products of Zara but also their service. As a result of our analyses we can conclude that the market is demanding for Zara to be transparent about their sustainability. With TRUE, Zara can live up to these demands by offering full transparency about their sustainability policy in an easy but exploring and unique way. This brings us to the fit of TRUE with Zara’s target group. The values of the target group contain lots of similarities with the concept. The target audience of Zara is self-conscious about their income and what money they can spend, this means they have to deliberate a lot about the choices that they make. TRUE helps the target audience to become more aware of those choices and the effect of their choices on the fast-fashion industry. Furthermore the target group likes to be and stay unique. TRUE is a unique concept that helps them explore in an easy and accessible way about how to stay unique and aware of their environment. The exploring part of the concept also fits with the adventurous side of the target group. With these information based on our earlier research we can conclude that there are lots of ways TRUE fits with Zara’s target group.

7.4.4 Touchpoints The moments that the customers get in touch with TRUE. New colored tags → Customers will notice the new tags with color system at the products in the Zara store. QR-code → Curious customers can scan the code with their smartphones and get linked to the product page on the web shop. On that page, they receive all the information that belongs to that product. Screens and scanners in stores → Customers will notice the screens and scanners in the Zara stores. Curious customers will find out how the system works and try the system. Other customers see that people are using the screens and will use them later on. Web shop → Customers on the web shop will see the true colors that are added with the product previews. If they click on the product, they will see the product page that is also linked to the QR codes. This page consists of all information among the product and the TRUE concept.

7.5 Evelien 7.5.1 Description concept carrier Every individual group member had to create a concept carrier. I have chosen the following subject for my concept carrier: environmental awareness. I have chosen this subject, because from our research it appeared that Zara can do a lot better on climate and environmental awareness (Rank a Brand, 2014). In our world everybody realises that our natural energy sources are limited en that pollution of our environment is a worldwide problem. Consumers want clothes that are made of natural, recognisable, honest materials that are coloured with natural paints. Zara already makes a lot of clothes made of natural textiles, that are coloured with natural paints. But how can Zara make this clear to the target group? I have chosen an app as concept carrier, because an app is a very strong means to pass a message to a target group. This app works as follows: This app is a game that can be downloaded for free in the app store. In this game you can design and produce your own clothes. In this process you have to make choices between several materials and several production processes. All these choices have economical and environmental effects. The players of the app experience directly the consequences of their choices. In figure 1 you see a screenshot of the app. The purpose of the game is, that counsumers realise that clothes that are made of natural materials and are coloured with natural paints are not only good for the environment, but can be attractive and trendy. These clothes are slightly more expensive than other clothes from other companies, but are much better for the environment. How can we get the target group to download the app? There is a contest: the best three designs will be taken into production by Zara and will actually be sold in the Zara shops. A jury of customers will decide which are the three winning models. So it is challenging to play the app.

7.5.2 Visual representation (Figure 1)

7.5.3 Explanation of fit I will explain how the app fits with the target group and vision. The target group of Zara consists of working women between 18 and 38 years old. In this age group people spend a lot of their time online. Women in this age group spend hours per week on gaming. So games are a good means to inform the target group on the environmental awareness of Zara. Zara has the following vision: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Desing must be available and affordable for everybody with a rapid response to the demands of the marketâ&#x20AC;?. Zara shows their target group through this game, that they respond very rapidly to the demands of the market: The winning three designs will be taken into production by Zara. That will happen within a few months after the app has been released. In that way these new designs will be available and affordable for their target group. Zara. That will happen within a few months after the app has been released. In that way these new designs will be available and affordable for their target group.

7.5.4 Touchpoints How will the target group get in touch with the app? The campaign has the following three touchpoints: 1. On the tags that are attached on the clothes in the Zara shops the name and logo of the app and the URL of the Zara website will be printed. 2. On the website there will be a direct link to the app, with the logo of the app. 3. Zara will hang big posters in every shop on which a lady wears a long white cotton shirt on which is printed: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Will you desing my clothes?â&#x20AC;? On the bottom of the poster the name and logo of the app and URL of the website of Zara are printed. In figure 2 you see the logo of the campaign. I will give a short explanation of the campaign: On the website there will be an explanation of the game. And on the website the customers can vote for their favourite design. Furthermore Zara will explain on the website why Zara thinks environmental awareness is so very important and how they incorporate environmental awareness in the production of their clothes. By playing the game, people will become more aware of the fact that many aspects play a part in the design and production process of clothes. People will experience this by playing the game. Through this game they will see the direct consequences of their choices. In this way they experience that their choices can have a great impact on the environment. Zara can show at the end of the game which choices Zara has made as a company and which (positive) consequences these choices have had on the environment.

Figure 2

8. References Arkell, H. (2014, august 27). Zara Children’s t-shirts look like concentration camp uniforms. Retrieved from Daily mail online: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ article-2735561/Zara-fire-launching-children-s-t-shirts-look-like-striped-Holocaust-eraconcentration-camp-uniforms-complete-Star-David.html BBC (2013) H&M and Zara to sign Bangladesh safety accord. Consulted on 14 Oktober 2014, retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/business-22520415 Bravo, K. (2014) These Big-Name Fashion Brand Just Agreed To Pay Their Workers More. Consulted on 14 Oktober 2014, retrieved from http://www.takepart.com/ article/2014/09/21/these-big-name-fashion-brands-just-agreed-pay-their-workers-more Creutzberg, K. (2013). Zara Imago. ’s-Hertogenbosch: Advanced Business Creation. Harbott.com, 2013. Analyzing Zara’s business Model. Consulted on 12 October 2014, from: http://www.harbott.com/2011/03/03/analysing-zaras-business-model/ Hendrikzs, V. (2013) Zara invests in new eco-efficient stores. Consulted on 15 Oktober 2014, retrieved from http://www.fashionunited.co.uk/fashion-news/fashion/zara-investsin-new-eco-efficient-stores-2013100418653 Inditex (2014) Brands: Zara. Consulted on 14 Oktober 2014, retrieved from http://www. inditex.com/brands/zara Microsoft, 2014. Young Adults Revealed: The lives and motivations of 21st century youth. Consulted on 12 October 2014, from: http://advertising.microsoft.com/nederland/ WWDocs/User/nl-nl/ResearchLibrary/ResearchReport/Young_Adults_booklet.pdf Sas, M. (2013) Slavernij en kinderarbeid bij Zara. Consulted on 14 Oktober 2014, retrieved from http://www.spitsnieuws.nl/buitenland/2013/04/slavernij-en-kinderarbeidbij-zara Siegle, L. (2014) Rana Plaza a year on: did fast-fashion brands learn any lessons at al? Consulted on 14 Oktober 2014, retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/ apr/20/rana-plaza-bangladesh-disaster-anniversary Rank a Brand (2014). Hoe duurzaam is Zara? Consulted on 14 Oktober 2014, retrieved from http://rankabrand.nl/modeketens/Zara Zara (2010) Company Zara. Consulted on 17 Oktober 2014, retreived from http://www. zara.com/uk/en/company-c11112.html?